(TibetanReview.net, Aug02, 2016) – China on Jul 31 reiterated its claim that prominent Tibetan Buddhist monk, philanthropist and environmentalist Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche had died suddenly in prison in Jul 2015 due to heart related problems despite hospital rescue efforts. The claim came from the country’s foreign ministry in response to a query from Reuters after the monk’s niece said he died due to torture and poisoning by the Chinese.

The niece, Nyima Lhamo, 26, reiterated the allegation against Chinese prison authorities in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu on Jul 28 in Dharamshala, India, while addressing the press, following her escape from her Chinese ruled homeland. She said the authorities had failed to provide the 65-year-old monk’s family either the name of any hospital where he was supposedly treated or a report card of any treatment despite repeated requests. She wanted the free world to investigate the cause of her uncle’s death.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s stock response to the query from Reuters was, “China is a country ruled by law, during Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s sentence his legal rights were protected according to relevant laws.”

The statement also sought to repeat the Chinese government’s vilification of the greatly respected Tibetan Buddhist monk by saying he had been serving a life sentence for “crimes of terror and incitement of separatism”. The charge is widely seen as having been concocted by the local Chinese authorities who could not stand his activism and popularity as well as the fact that he is a supporter of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is also routinely vilified by the Chinese leadership.